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Tag: Parliamentary Question

  • Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Chi Onwurah – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department spent on training in each of the last three financial years.

    Karen Bradley

    Managers in the Home Department have received the following guidance on the number of days learning and development, including formal training, that should be provided to staff :"Every civil servant should be spending at least 5 days a year on their own learning and development targeting those skills they most need for their current and future roles."

    We do not collect data centrally on all aspects of learning and development that are used to develop staff skills nor on training budgets so this could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

    Expenditure in the Home Department on training for the past 3 financial years was:

    2011/12: £14,860,807
    2012/13: £16,986,868
    2013/14: £24,715,417

    The increase in training expenditure figures in the last two years was a result of developing skills across the Home Office and in particular training new officers recruited in UK Visas and Immigration, Immigration Enforcement, Her Majesty’sPassport Office and Border Force.

  • Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Sadiq Khan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sadiq Khan on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of magistrates were aged (a) over 65, (b) 55 to 65, (c) 45 to 55, (d) 35 to 45, (e) 25 to 35 and (f) under 25 on 1 April (i) 1989, (ii) 1994, (iii) 2000, (iv) 2005, (v) 2010 and (vi) 2014.

    Mr Shailesh Vara

    Magistrates from diverse backgrounds are vital in retaining public confidence in our justice system. We encourage applications from people from all walks of life who have the necessary skills, and we will continue to work to ensure that our magistrates reflect the make-up of modern Britain.

    Age diversity data for the magistracy is not recorded for 1989, 1994 and 2000. The available data is capable of being reported in the categories shown below.

    Year

    Under 30

    30-39

    40-49

    50-59

    60-70

    2005

    >1%

    >4%

    15%

    42%

    39%

    2010

    >1%

    >4%

    14%

    31%

    51%

    2014

    >1%

    >3%

    12%

    28%

    57%
  • Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    Chris Ruane – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Ruane on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, what information the Committee holds on what income local authorities receive from the sale of electoral registers to the private sector.

    Mr Gary Streeter

    The Electoral Commission does not hold this information.

    However, the Commission’s guidance to Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) recommends that EROs maintain a record of the transactions of sales of the registers, which should be available for public scrutiny. The cost of purchasing electoral registers is prescribed in legislation.

  • Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    Stephen Timms – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of raising the participation age on the level of youth unemployment.

    Esther McVey

    Raising the participation age was legislated for in 2008 with the aim of ensuring young people have the skills and qualifications they need to succeed in the workplace. The number of young people in work is increasing, up by over 100,000 in the last year and by over 125,000 since 2010. A higher participation age should help to cut youth unemployment in the short-term, as it means more young people are studying full-time, and in the longer term, by increasing the level of skills and qualifications of the workforce. Over the last year 16-17 year olds and 18-24 year olds have both seen significant falls in unemployment, with unemployment down both for those studying full-time and for those who have left full-time education. During 2014 overall youth unemployment recorded the largest annual fall on record and the youth claimant count has now fallen for 38 consecutive months.

  • Lord Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    Lord Bradshaw – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Bradshaw on 2015-02-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the voting protocol for their proposed stakeholder working group on off-road recreational motor vehicles; and what is the proposed timetable for the group to report its findings to ministers and for the ensuing public consultation.

    Lord De Mauley

    The proposed stakeholder working group on off-road recreational motor vehicles will not need to establish a voting protocol as it will deliver a report stating, if necessary, where there are differences of opinion, or where there is no consensus. It will then be for Ministers to decide what proposals in the report to take forward.

    We will set a target timeframe of 18 months for the group to report to Ministers and a public consultation will follow afterwards.

  • Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb on 2015-02-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Local Government Association’s assessment of the impact of spending reductions on the long-term financial sustainability of adult social care services.

    Earl Howe

    Adult social care expenditure and the future demand for services will be reviewed as part of the Spending Review before decisions on future funding are made. The Department is aware of the work undertaken by the Local Government Association and will involve both them and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services in this process.

  • Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Lord Greaves – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Greaves on 2015-02-12.

    To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice they have given to police forces on the action to be taken in relation to information on persons who have ordered or received copies of Charlie Hebdo from their newsagents or in other ways, and whether such information should be collected; and which police forces have collected any such information.

    Lord Bates

    In line with their operational independence, this is an issue on which appropriate action is taken by the police as required.

    The police Security Review Committee process considers terrorist threats to all communities across the UK, and considers the appropriate policing response, including any protective security requirements, advice and guidance, to respond to any emerging threats.

    I understand that the police assessed the risks arising from the sale of the magazine Charlie Hedbo in the UK after events in Paris, and provided appropriate advice to wholesalers, distributors, and retailers of the magazine. There was no centrally co-ordinated request to collect information on individuals who ordered or received copies.

  • Russell Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    Russell Brown – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Russell Brown on 2015-02-12.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects that a final decision will be made on the final pension age for the Ministry of Defence Police and Defence Fire and Rescue Services.

    Anna Soubry

    Discussions on the future arrangements for Ministry of Defence Police and Defence Fire and Rescue Service personnel pensions are still ongoing.

    I recognise that this is an important issue for both communities and I am therefore seeking to resolve it as soon as possible. This is however a complex matter which raises a number of cross-Departmental issues.

    Although no final decision has yet been taken, I hope to conclude this issue in the near future.

  • Cathy Jamieson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Cathy Jamieson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cathy Jamieson on 2015-02-11.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what certificated training Pension Wise staff providing (a) telephone and (b) face-to-face advice will require prior to the launch of that scheme.

    Andrea Leadsom

    All guidance specialists working for Pension Wise will receive high quality and rigorous training, whether they are delivering guidance face to face or over the phone. They will be required to pass a certificated test to demonstrate they have the necessary technical knowledge and guidance skills to deliver the guidance. The training programme is designed in accordance with FCA standards, and will be accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute, a well-respected professional standards body in the financial services industry.

    HM Treasury’s delivery partners, TPAS and Citizens Advice, Citizens Advice Scotland and Citizens Advice Northern Ireland are currently recruiting guidance specialists. Recruitment strategies and the setting of pay scales is the responsibility of individual delivery partners.

    At Budget 2014, the Chancellor allocated a development fund of up to £20m to establish the initial guidance service. Spending on advertising will be published as part of the government’s Transparency Agenda. Initial funding to The Pension Advisory Service (TPAS) and the Citizen Advice organisations will be included in the HM Treasury Accounts to be published in July.

  • Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    Jim Fitzpatrick – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Fitzpatrick on 2015-02-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the reasons were for the change in his Department’s performance in meeting deadlines for responding to Freedom of Information requests between 2010 and quarter three of 2014.

    Kris Hopkins

    The Department for Communities and Local Government, recognise the value of the Freedom of Information Act and as part of our commitment to transparency we aim to respond to these requests as quickly as possible.

    Freedom of Information Act requests by their nature can prove complex to answer and, notwithstanding the statutory guidance on the amount of time that must be spent in responding, we sometimes take longer to reply in order to gather the information requested.

    The change has been driven at least in part by an increased complexity of requests and we have responded to this in recent months by increasing the resources we devote to this area. Early indications show a significant improvement in performance, which we expect will be reflected when figures for cases received after 1 January 2015 are released.

    Ministry of Justice statistics are published on a quarterly basis, approximately three months in arrears, so the next figures to be published will refer to cases received in October to December 2014. The figures showing the improvements we have made will be visible in the following quarter when data for cases received in January to March 2015 are made available.